Jade Buddha Palace (, sometimes also translated as Jade Buddha Garden or Jade Buddha Temple) is a temple complex housing one of the largest

jade Jade is a mineral used as jewellery or for ornaments. It is typically green, although may be yellow or white. Jade can refer to either of two different silicate minerals: nephrite (a silicate of calcium and magnesium in the amphibole group ...

Buddha Siddhartha Gautama, most commonly referred to as the Buddha, was a wandering ascetic and religious teacher who lived in South Asia during the 6th or 5th century BCE and founded Buddhism. According to Buddhist tradition, he was born in L ...

statues in the world. Located in

Anshan Anshan () is an inland prefecture-level city in central-southeast Liaoning province, People's Republic of China, about south of the provincial capital Shenyang. As of the 2020 census, it was Liaoning's third most populous city with a population ...

Liaoning province Liaoning () is a coastal province in Northeast China that is the smallest, southernmost, and most populous province in the region. With its capital at Shenyang, it is located on the northern shore of the Yellow Sea, and is the northernmost ...

, the complex covers . It is situated beside Dongshan Scenic Reserve. The statue was sculpted from a piece of jade high, wide, thick, weighing . The front of the stone has been carved with an image of

Sakyamuni Siddhartha Gautama, most commonly referred to as the Buddha, was a wandering ascetic and religious teacher who lived in South Asia during the 6th or 5th century BCE and founded Buddhism. According to Buddhist tradition, he was born in Lu ...

(a.k.a. Gautama) Buddha. On the back of the stone

Guanyin Guanyin () is a Bodhisattva associated with compassion. She is the East Asian representation of Avalokiteśvara ( sa, अवलोकितेश्वर) and has been adopted by other Eastern religions, including Chinese folk religion. She ...

(a.k.a. Avalokitesvara) Buddha has been carved. The jade stone was found on 22 July 1960 in

Xiuyan Xiuyan Manchu Autonomous County (, Manchu: ; Möllendorff: siuyan manju beye dasangga siyan) is a county in the southeast of Liaoning province, People's Republic of China, and is also one of the 11 Manchu autonomous counties and one of 117 autonomo ...

County of Anshan which is known as the "hometown of jade" (Xiuyan jade is not really jade, but

Serpentinite Serpentinite is a rock composed predominantly of one or more serpentine group minerals, the name originating from the similarity of the texture of the rock to that of the skin of a snake. Serpentinite has been called ''serpentine'' or ''s ...

). It was declared a treasure of the State and listed as a protected property by Chinese Premier

Zhou Enlai Zhou Enlai (; 5 March 1898 – 8 January 1976) was a Chinese statesman and military officer who served as the first premier of the People's Republic of China from 1 October 1949 until his death on 8 January 1976. Zhou served under Chairman M ...

. Anshan city government commissioned the carving which took a team of 120 sculptors 18 months to complete. The temple complex was opened on 3 September 1996. The building that houses the jade Buddha statue is tall, representing the 33 layers of heaven in Buddhism. It claims to be one the tallest buildings of ancient Chinese architectural style in China.

References

Anshan Chinese sculpture Individual hardstone carvings Colossal Buddha statues Rock art in China Buildings and structures in Liaoning Tourist attractions in Liaoning {{China-sculpture-stub